The Joy of Vintage Rifle Shooting… CMP Report from Perry

Brian Williams set a new National Match record for the National Vintage Military Rifle Match. After the match, he posed with his two sons, Andrew and Collin Williams.

Story based on report by Ashley Brugnone, CMP Writer
The CMP Games attract hundreds of competitors to Camp Perry each summer. Among the many CMP rifle events, the matches for vintage rifles (Garand, Springfield etc.) are hugely popular. This year Brian Williams set a new National Record with his K-31 Swiss in the National Vintage Military Rifle Match, firing a score of 294-13X. Williams broke the previous record of 293-4X, which had stood since 2010.

PVT Sammy Richardson Wins 3-Gun Agg (Springfield, Garand, Vintage Military)
Also breaking the existing record but finishing second place was PVT Sammy Richardson (U.S. Army Reserve) with a score of 293-11X. Richardson also won the National Springfield Match with a score of 296-12. PVT Richardson fired a stellar combined score of 779-28X in the Springfield, Vintage Military, and John C. Garand matches. With these outstanding performances, Richardson won the overall 3-Gun Aggregate title, an impressive accomplishment.

Vintage Sniper Rifle Match Draws Big Crowd

The Vintage Sniper Match was again one of the most popular matches at the CMP Games at Camp Perry. Team Hard Leg 1, with members Paul Patel and Terrence McCoy, won the match with a score of 397-20X. That was just one point shy of the Vintage Sniper Rifle Match record in the bolt-action division. Also noteworthy — the father and son duo of John D. Mitchell and John C. Mitchell recorded a 372-7X score to capture the semi-automatic class with their M1-D rifle.

COMMENT: It’s great to see a father and son shooting together… and winning together. In how many sports can a father and son be actual team-mates? This is one of the great things about CMP matches, and the shooting sports in general. Both young and old shooters can compete side by side.

The CMP Games appeal to shooters of all ages, young and old alike.

Carbine Match Was a Family Affair — The Stout Clan
Mark, Mark II, and Connor Stout have made their names known in the Carbine Match, earning high honors for the past few years. In the As-Issued Carbine event, Mark Stout, 48, of Waterford, MI, topped the match for the second consecutive year with a National Record total score of 380-7X. His son, Mark Stout II, 19, was the High Junior of the event for the second time, with a score of 342-3X. Younger brother Connor Stout, 15, finished as the fourth overall junior. Next year, Mark II will compete as an adult against his father, leaving the High Junior spot up for grabs for Connor.

Garand Match Shortened by Storms
Due to bad weather, the John C. Garand Match was condensed from a 3-stage event to only two — removing the standing portion. Winning the Garand Match was Stephen Skowronek with a score of 199-11X. Stephen shot great, dropping only one point in the slow-fire prone series. Skowronek had previously won the event in 2005 and looks forward to coming to the Games Matches each year with his father and a group of fellow marksmen from their Pennsylvania gun club.

Here in Switzerland, the K31 was sold for something like 70$ in the 90′ and we are lucky to have a subventioned military ammo which is a real MATCH ammo named GP11 (-.30 cents/cartridge). Ten years ago, we could have a K31 for less than 30$ !

Today, the normal price is 120$ (in Switzerland) but some crazy guys pay more. I’m interested to know how much is one in the US…

Please, pay attention that swiss army rifles of this type started in 1889 and the models are 1889, 1896 which are both NOT ABLE TO SHOT THE NORMAL GP11 (it might be too powerful for it). Then we have got the 1896-11 (1896 modified to use the GP11), 11, 31, 31-42 whith lateral scope, 31-43 with lateral scope too and 55 with removable scope (sniper).

For the K31, DO NOT EVER try to put a scope on the top, it HAS TO BE LATERAL (on the right). If not, you will have a lot of jam because of the ejection obstruction and you will damage your scope.

Personaly, I’m used to shoot with my 1896-11 open sights at 1050m (1’200 yards), sitting on my butt and having the same results that the guy next to me shooting prone with PGM Ultima Ratio and scope (one square meter). Any body could do so because swiss army rifles are EXCEPTIONAL… With the GP11 !!!

Finaly, what you have to know to choose a K31 is that your bore SHOULD BE REGULAR AND BETWEEN 7.53mm and 7.55mm. No more, no less !

Light, slick, and accurate. Finally found, after six years of looking, a spare magazine. The original charger clips do not last too long with repetitive use, nor were they intended to.

GP-11 ammo non existent here, so I handload Jugo cases with Oz-made 155gn secant ogive bullets; works for me. “Proper” bullet weight may shoot even better, but the prices here are horrendous.

Was offered a ZfK 31-55 sniper in almost mint condition, but it was WAY out of my financial league. I got to shoot it, though. Odd at first, until you see the tiny groups on the paper. That muzzle “device” is VERY effective at reducing recoil and flash.

Quick point on reloading: The K31 has a VERY short throat. Fine with the GP-11, but will NOT work with tangent-ogive bullets like the Sierra Matchking style. The K-11 has a longer throat, probably because, in 1911, there was still an enormous amount of the older, “torpedo-shaped” ammo in stock. This is why anybody reloading for a K-31 etc, MUST use a secant-ogive bullet.

I COULD use Sierra 155 MKs, but, everybody with K-31 rifles needs the BJD/HBC secant ogive jobs, and we buy the “local product” in lots of 5000 or so, because they are also fine in .308W, .30-06, 7.62 x 54R, etc.